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H CENTfjf 


JL 


AS 


A KERAMIC  STUDY 


A Chapter  in  the  History  of  Half 
a Dozen  Dinner  Plates 


BY 

FLORA  E.  HAINES 


“All  that  inhabit  this  great  earth, 
Whatever  be  their  rank  or  worth, 
Are  kindred  and  allied  by  birth, 
And  made  of  the  same  clay.” 


Published  by  the  Author 
Bangor,  Maine,  U.  S.  A. 
189.3 


Co/OS 
fJK 
H0S7 
S 7 
H 3 
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Copyright,  1895,  by 
Flora  E.  Haines 

All  rights  reserved 


THE  GETTY  CENTER 

LIBRARY 


TO 

MY  BROTHER 

CHARLES  L.  HINCKLEY 

WHOSE  UNSELFISHNESS  AND  UNFAILING 
SYMPATHY  IN  EVERY  UNDERTAKING  ARE 
SWEET  AND  BEAUTIFUL  TO  REMEMBER. 


F.  E.  H, 


CONTENTS 


I. 

rage 

IN  A TRAM-CAR  . . . . . 9 

II. 

A PEEP  WITHIN  A POTTERY  . 17 

III. 

A KIND  OFFER 24 

IV. 

STONES  AND  CLAYS  BECOME 

DOUGH 31 

y. 

IN  THE  PRESSER’S  ROOM  . . 38 

VI. 

WITH  THE  PLACERS  AND  OYEN- 

MEN 44 


vn. 

SAGGAR-MAKING  ....  54 

VIII. 

IN  THE  DRAWING-WAREHOUSE  . 58 

IX. 

IN  THE  OYEN 62 

X. 

PRINTING  THE  PLATES  . . .67 

.XI. 

THE  HARDENING-KILN  . . .71 

XII. 

GLAZING  AND  THE  GLAZE  . . 74 

XIII. 

THE  SECOND  FIRING  . . . 78 

XIV. 

IN  THE  SORTING  AND  POLISHING- 


ROOMS 


84 


XV, 


WITH  THE  DECORATOR  ...  87 

XVI. 

THE  ENAMEL-KILN  . . . .92 

XVII. 

BURNISHING 95 

XVIII. 

THE  SIX  IN  HAND  ....  99 

XIX. 

FORMATION  OF  THE  GUILD  . .104 

XX. 

CONCLUSION Ill 


APPENDIX 


117 


A Keramic  Study, 
i. 

IN  A TRAM-CAR. 

I own  six  white  earthenware 
plates  which  I value  greatly.  I 
am  going  to  tell  you  how  I came 
to  have  them,  what  they  are 
made  of,  how  they  were  made, 
and  something  about  those  who 
made  them. 

Before  I left  this  country  for 
a twelvemonth  in  old  England 
I planned  to  visit  the  Stafford- 
shire potteries.  In  the  pursu- 
ance of  this  plan  I went,  on 
the  afternoon  of  March  6, 1893, 
to  Stoke-upon-Trent,  the  Capi- 


10 


tal  of  the  Potteries,  from  Birm- 
ingham where  I had  spent  some 
weeks  with  Miss  K. — , whose 
friendship  I had  gained  on  the 
steamship  Lake  Ontario. 

The  one  potter,  who,  np  to 
this  time,  had  aroused  my  most 
lively  interest  and  engaged  my 
greatest  attention,  was  Josiah 
Wedgwood.  He  achieved  such 
remarkable  success  in  his  calling, 
over  a hundred  years  ago,  that 
to  him,  more  than  to  any  other 
man,  is  due  the  controlling  in- 
fluence of  English  potteries  in 
the  markets  of  the  world. 

Immediately  I had  secured  a 
comfortable  home,  I would  nat- 
urally visit  the  town  where  he 
began  his  life-work,  and  the  In- 


11 

stitute  there  erected  to  his 
memory  in  which  are  preserved 
many  beautiful  examples  of  his 
handiwork;  so  on  the  morning 
of  the  succeeding  day  I entered 
the  tram-car  for  Burslem  six 
miles  from  Stoke.  We  had 
covered  but  a short  distance 
when  I saw  a large  assemblage 
of  those  queer-looking  ovens 
that  Charles  Dickens  happily 
likened  to  “the  bowls  of  gigan- 
tic tobacco-pipes  cut  short  off 
from  the  stems  and  turned 
upside  down.” 

“Excuse  me,  whose  pottery 
is  that,  please  V I asked  of  my 
left-hand  neighbor. 

“ Brown -Westhead,  Moore  & 
Co.’s”  was  the  reply. 


12 


“O!  they  are  the  manufactur- 
ers of  the  cactus  and  hop  pat- 
terns, are’nt  they?” 

The  man  did  not  seem  to 
know  anything  about  cacti  or 
hops  in  such  an  ornamental 
way ; yet  I was  certain  that 
Moore  was  the  name  associated 
in  my  memory  with  this  ware 
which  I had  first  seen  in  a Liv- 
erpool shop.  It  had  interested 
me  because  it  seemed  odd 
for  an  English  firm  to  have 
adopted  the  peculiarly  Ameri- 
can cactus  to  such  an  extent. 
But,  truly,  I should  not  be  sur- 
prised at  meeting  in  England 
tributes  in  any  shape  to  the  hop, 
or  to  Gambrinus,  or  to  Bacchus  : 
I saw  daily  so  many  of  their 


13 


devotees.  I explained  to  him 
that  I was  a stranger,  making  a 
little  study  of  the  district. 

Upon  this  a gentleman  oppo- 
site turned  his  smiling  counte- 
nance upon  me  and  remarked 
that  the  ware  referred  to  was 
made  in  another  town  by  Moore 
Bros.  I told  him  where  I was 
going,  and  he  advised  me  if  I 
cared  to  see  the  largest  piece  of 
porcelain  in  the  potteries  to  go 
to  Brownfield’s,  at  Cobridge.  A 
few  moments  later  he  said  : “I 
am  going  to  Brownfield’s  and  if 
you  wish  to  see  the  vase  I 
will  show  it  you  now.  I shall 
not  detain  you  more  than  fifteen 
minutes.”  Thanking  him,  and 
murmuring  something  like,  “It 


14 


is  my  custom  to  embrace  my  op- 
portunities,” I fearlessly  fol- 
lowed him  out  of  the  car 
through  the  arched  brick  gate- 
way I have  since  come  to  know 
so  well,  and  up  a flight  of  stairs 
to  the  show-room  where  stands 
this  masterpiece  of  the  potters 
art,  designed  by  A.  Carrier,  a 
French  artist  of  note,  and  made 
at  this  factory  for  the  Paris  Ex- 
hibition of  1889.  It  is  esti- 
mated to  have  cost  £4000, 
($20,000)  and  is  three  metres 
thirty  centimetres  (about  eleven 
feet)  in  height.  The  body  of  the 
vase  is  a globe  of  that  sea-green 
china  called  celadon,  two  metres 
(about  six  feet  eight  inches)  in 
diameter,  representing  “the 


15 

earth”  with  lines  of  latitude  and 
longitude,  and  faintly  outlined 
continents ; this  is  encircled  with 
a zone  of  white  porcelain,  bear- 
ing four  plaques,  illustrating 
vintage,  harvest,  etc.,  in  white 
on  a black  ground,  and  alterna- 
ting with  large,  finely  modelled, 
sitting  figures  in  Parian  porce- 
lain, representing  the  Seasons. 
Ceres  surmounts  the  globe  and 
her  attendant  cherubs  are  show- 
ering down  fruits  upon  it.  The 
plinth  is  formed  of  sixty  Parian 
figures,  engaged  in  hunting, 
fishing,  wine-pressing,  reaping, 
etc.  The  base  is  of  celadon 
china  with  white  ornamentation, 
and  shields  for  the  coat  of  arms, 
or  monogram,  of  the  buyer. 


16 


However,  by  the  accidental 
falling  of  heavy  machinery  upon 
it  the  vase  was  cracked,  and  in- 
stead of  becoming  a source  of 
wonder  and  delight  to  the  wives 
and  retainers  of  the  Shah  of 
Persia,  its  would-have-been  pur- 
chaser, it  was  brought  back  to 
England  and  has  become  an 
important  factor  of  this  chroni- 
cle. 


II. 


A PEEP  WITHIN  A POTTERY. 

After  having  duly  inspected 
this  vase,  I had  a glance  about 
the  room  at  specimens  of  the 
Company’s  manufacture.  I 
mentioned  the  fact  of  my  being 
an  American. 

“Are  you]  I have  just  been 
showing  samples  to  an  Ameri- 
can,” and  my  friend  opened  his 
hand-bag  and  took  out  five 
earthenware  plates. 

The  trade-mark  on  the  back 
of  these  appealed  most  strongly 
to  my  democratic  soul : two 
hemispheres,  and  between  them 
arises  the  royal  stem  of  the  an- 
nunciation lily,  clasped  about  by 


18 

two  outstretched  hands.  A 
band  around  the  world  bears 
the  words  : “Brownfields  Guild- 
Pottery,”  and  below  is  the  word 
“England.” 

I presented  my  one  letter  of 
introduction.  After  its  perusal 
the  gentleman  excused  himself 
saying,  “I  will  send  up  Mr. 
Brownfield,  he  will  like  to  see 
you.” 

When  I looked  up  from  the 
piece  of  china,  I was  apparently 
studying,  to  meet  the  eyes  of 
the  advancing  head  of  the  es- 
tablishment, I was  surprised  to 
see  so  young  a man.  I may 
tell  you  that  he  is  the  most  like 
an  American  in  speech,  man- 
ners and  spirit  of  any  English- 


19 


man  whom  I have  met,  and,  do 
you  know?  that  means  a great 
deal.  O,  the  sun  never  shone 
on  such  adorable  men  as  ours  ! 

After  I had  been  told  some- 
thing about  the  inception  of  the 
Guild,  that  member  of  the  so- 
ciety who  has  the  oversight  of 
the  china  department  was  in- 
troduced to  me,  with  the  request 
to  “please  show  this  lady  about 
and  then  bring  her  back  to  me.” 

Some  time  had  elapsed  before 
I was  taken  to  the  private  office 
where  I again  met  my  friend  of 
the  street-car. 

There  are  no  luxuriant  or  ex- 
travagant fixtures  here.  A 
cheerful  fire  of  soft  coal  was 
burning  in  the  open  grate.  A 


20 


desk,  made,  very  likely,  by  the 
same  carpenter  who  put  up  the 
door  and  window-casings,  years 
ago,  is  fitted  against  the  wall, 
beneath  the  windows,  adown 
the  whole  length  of  the  room. 
I noticed  upon  it  signs  of  a hur- 
ried lunch  : a china  toast-rack 
holding  slices  of  toasted  bread, 
and  a sugar-bowl  filled  with 
square  lumps  of  white  sugar. 
The  companion  tea-pot  must 
have  been  near  by,  for  this  phil- 
anthropic master-potter  is  very 
fond  of  “the  cup  that  cheers.” 
Some  pieces  of  porcelain  for  the 
Austrian  market  were  also  on 
the  desk  and  I now  know  that 
a type-writer  of  American  birth 
finds  lodgment  there. 


21 


I was  given  a little  book  : “A 
Potter’s  Guild  by  A.  Brown- 
field,” and  some  reprints  from 
local  newspapers  that  I might 
learn  still  more  of  this  co-oper- 
ative experiment. 

I was  interested  to  know  if 
the  society’s  goods  are  known 
in  Yankee-land.  Yes;  they 
had  sold  to  Portland,  Maine, 
firms,  and  a Massachusetts  cus- 
tomer, “who  is  more  lavish  with 
his  money  than  most  Ameri- 
cans,” had  with  a sentiment  due 
to  our  Puritan  ancestors,  sent 
photographs  for  special  plates. 
Some  one  was  asked  to  “bring 
one  of  those  Mayflower  muffins” 
(a  breakfast  plate).  Failing  to 
find  one,  the  messenger  brought 


22 


the  engraven  copperplate.  I 
suggested  that  a border  of  the 
leaves  and  blossoms  only  would 
he  pretty,  leaving  out  the  statue 
of  Faith  in  the  center,  the  ves- 
sel, island  and  rock,  and  should 
sell  with  us,  since  the  Epigaea 
repens  is  a truly  American 
plant,  indeed  almost  a New 
Englander. 

“We’ll  try  it !”  said  the  chief- 
worker,  “We’ll  put  it  on  a P. 
G.  plate.”  Taking  leave,  I was 
invited  to  come  again  and  finish 
my  round  of  the  works.  The 
chief-worker  and  my  friend  of 
the  morning  accompanied  me 
to  the  gate,  and  the  latter  walked 
with  me  along  my  way  until  the 
car  overtook  us,  and  with 


23 


“you’ll  come  again  in  a few 
days'?”  bade  me  good  afternoon. 


III. 


A KDsD  OFFER. 

Four  or  five  full,  busy,  sunny 
days  slipped  by  before  I pre- 
sented myself  at  the  door  of  one 
of  the  rooms  devoted  to  the 
decoration  of  earthenware,  over 
which  department  my  friend 
holds  sway.  He  received  me 
kindly  and  begged  me  to  excuse 
him  if  he  asked  how  long  I 
purposed  remaining  in  the  dis- 
trict? His  reason  for  asking 
was  that  if  I would  stay  long 
enough  I should  have  half  a 
dozen  earthenware  plates  made 
for  me,  and  I should  watch  their 
evolution.  What  a charming 


25 


proposition ! and  what  could 
have  been  more  to  my  mind  ? 

I accepted  the  favor  with  de- 
light. 

It  was  decided  that  I should 
begin  my  observations  on  the 
14th  of  March, and  on  that  morn- 
ing when  I alighted  from  the  car 
there  was  Mr.  Turner  without 
the  gate  to  meet  me. 

I was  conducted  to  a part  of 
“the  bank”  new  to  me  and  de- 
livered up  to  the  manager  of  the 
earthenware  manufacturing. 

We  went  into  a yard  where 
I saw  a large  pile  of  blue  ball- 
clay  from  the  great  tertiary 
beds  of  Dorsetshire.  It  had 
come  by  vessel  around  Corn- 
wall to  Runcorn  on  the  Mersey, 


26 


thence  forty-three  miles  by  ca- 
nal-boats to  its  destination.  This 
clay  is  an  important  constituent 
of  my  plates,  and  its  chemical 
components  when  dried  at  a tem- 
perature of  100  ° C.  are  : “sili- 
ca, 46.28  ; alumina,  38.04  ; pro- 
toxide of  iron,  1.04  ; lime,  1.20  ; 
a trace  of  magnesia ; water, 
13.44.” 

A sample  block  is  before  me. 
It  is  of  a grayish-white  color, 
but  it  burns  perfectly  white.  It 
adheres  to  my  tongue  and  rubs 
off  upon  my  fingers,  giving 
them  a smooth,  greasy  look  and 
feel. 

Another  constituent  of  the 
plates  is  china  clay.  This  is 
piled  in  the  yard  and  is  from 


27 

Devonshire  whence  it  comes 
very  fine  and  white.  It  rubs  off 
from  my  sample  cake  in  a soft 
powder. 

There  is  on  my  table  a small, 
flint  nodule,  bluish-gray  out- 
side and  brownish  within.  Once 
upon  a time  it  was  embedded  in 
the  chalk  downs  of  southeast 
England,  or  the  opposite  coast 
of  France  ; but  since  then  it  has 
rolled  about  a good  deal  on  the 
beach  and  has  come  by  vessel 
away  to  Runcorn  and  then,  as 
the  others,  to  Staffordshire  by 
canal-boat.  Boulders  like  this, 
when  calcined  and  ground  into 
a fine,  white,  gritty  powder, 
make  the  third  constituent  of 
the  plates.  A crumbling  cake 


28 

of  this  prepared  flint  is  before 
me. 

The  fourth  and  last  constit- 
uent of  the  body  is  a decom- 
posing, granitic  stone,  composed 
principally  of  feldspar  and 
quartz.  The  feldspar  and  mica 
are  very  white  from  the  action 
of  mother  earth’s  chemical 
forces  for  ages.  This  has  come 
from  the  Isle  of  Jersey  and  has 
made  its  last  stage  by  canal.  A 
piece  of  this  disintegrating 
stone,  and  a small  block  of  it 
after  haying  been  ground,  are 
before  me.  The  latter  falls 
into  a white  and  gritty  powder 
too,  but  of  a different  shade 
from  the  flint,  which  is  a bluish 
white.  4 -The  composition  of 


29 


this  rock  varies  considerably,  so 
that  it  requires  constant  experi- 
ments to  determine  in  what 
proportion  the  quartz  and  the 
more  fusible  parts  stand  to  each 
other,”  and  that  is  why  I have  a 
sample  block  of  shining  white 
stone  marked  “5,  trial  of  stone, 
fired.” 

I said  the  blue  ball-clay  and 
the  china  clay  were  piled  in  the 
yard  just  as  they  came  from 
their  homes  ; but  the  granitic 
stone  and  the  flint  nodules  were 
carried  from  the  canal-boats  to 
the  Company’s  mill  where  they 
were  ground,  the  flint  having 
first  been  calcined  in  a furnace, 
and  then  pulverized  under  water, 
since  the  fine  flint  powder  is  very 


30 

harmful  to  the  workmen.  These 
two  constituents  are  brought  in 
barrels  to  our  pottery,  having 
been  mixed  at  the  mill  with 
pure  cold  water  to  the  consist- 
ency of  cream. 


IV. 


STONES  AND  CLAYS  BECOME  DOUGH. 

In  a building  opening  into 
the  yard  are  four  large  covered 
receptacles  called  blungers ; into 
one  of  them  is  put  the  blue  bah- 
clay,  mixed  with  pure  cold  wa- 
ter, in  the  proportion  of  so  many 
ounces  of  clay  to  a pint  of  water. 
The  formula  which  makes  the 
exact  required  density  is  a trade 
secret.  Into  another  goes  the 
china  clay  and  that  is  mixed 
with  water  to  its  required  den- 
sity ; into  the  third  is  poured 
the  now  liquefied  granite  from 
its  barrel;  into  the  fourth  the 
calcined,  ground  and  liquefied 


32 


flint.  Each  of  these  blungers 
is  fitted  with  an  agitator,  placed 
horizontally,  which  reminds  me 
of  a churn  dasher.  As  it 
whirls  over  and  oyer  it  dissolves 
and  mixes  the  clays  and  stone 
and  flint,  until  each  is  in  a suit- 
able condition  to  be  pumped 
from  its  own  blunger  into  a 
large  common  vat,  “mixing-pot.” 
A wooden  gauge  is  placed  in 
this  vat,  and  the  blue  ball-clay 
slip,  as  it  is  now  called,  is  run 
in  until  it  has  reached  its  place 
on  the  gauge;  then  the  china 
clay  slip,  which  adds  to  the 
whiteness  and  “keeps  the  mass 
more  porous ; ” then  the  flint 
slip,  which  will  make  the  whole 
less  liable  to  crack  and  shrink, 


33 


and  will  help  the  fat,  unctuous, 
blue  ball-clay  to  stand  up  and 
keep  its  shape  in  baking,  and 
which  will  give  a ring  to  the 
well-fired  plate  and  increase  its 
whiteness;  and,  lastly,  the  stone 
slip,  which  adds  whiteness,  in- 
creases the  density  of  the  clays, 
and  acts  as  a flux  to  make  the 
paste  more  compact,  closer  in 
the  grain.  Each  is  run  in  to  its 
own  depth  as  indicated  by  its 
place  on  the  gauge. 

To  give  the  plates  an  agree- 
able bluish  tint,  something  after 
the  manner  of  the  dairy  woman 
who  colors  her  butter  and 
cheese  with  a little  butter  color 
or  saffron,  and  as  the  laundress 
blues  her  clothes,  the  potter 


34 


filially  puts  into  his  materials  a 
certain  amount  of  ground  oxide 
of  cobalt. 

All  the  ingredients,  after 
much  stirring  and  working,  are 
thoroughly  commingled ; then 
the  plug  is  pulled  out,  and  the 
mixture  is  passed  through  two 
sets  of  very  fine,  brass  sieves 
into  a cistern  below.  The  pot- 
ters call  this  an  “ark.”  It  is 
interesting  to  observe  to  what 
an  extent  among  these  people 
many  words,  long  obsolete  in 
literature,  are  in  daily  use. 

From  this  receptacle  force 
pumps  send  the  strained  slip 
through  pipes  into  corrugated, 
wooden  presses,  in  order  to  get 
rid,  as  much  as  possible,  of  all 


35 

the  water  which  has  been  nec- 
essary, thus  far,  to  thoroughly 
dissolve  and  mix  the  constitu- 
ents of  the  body,  or  paste,  of  the 
plates,  and  to  make  plastic  the 
homogeneous  mass.  The  presses 
are  lined  with  a very  close  and 
stout  cotton  cloth.  These  lin- 
ings must  be  frequently  washed, 
as  often,  certainly,  as  a change 
of  body  occurs.  When  the 
cloths  are  taken  from  the  divis- 
ions, or  “chambers,”  of  the  press, 
their  contents  have  been  sub- 
jected to  pressure  and  appear  in 
the  form  of  large,  flat  strips  of 
dough.  These  strips  a man 
rolls  up  and  carries  to  a pug- 
mill  to  become  yet  more  refined 
and  solidified. 


36 


The  dough  is  thrown  in  at 
the  top  of  the  mill,  an  upright, 
iron  cylinder,  having  a revolv- 
ing, vertical  shaft  set  with  steel 
knives  arranged  in  a spiral  man- 
ner around  the  shaft  with  their 
edges  somewhat  depressed.  The 
paste  in  its  downward  progress 
is  cut  and  hacked  and  mangled 
much  as  some  cooks  treat  their 
dough  before  baking  ; and  for 
about  the  same  reason,  unless 
the  air  is  well  expelled  there 
will  occur  blisters  from  the 
bursting  of  the  bubbles  in  the 
firing.  It  is  finally  forced  out 
at  the  bottom  of  the  mill  through 
a sort  of  four-sided,  six  inch 
spout.  As  it  emerges  from  this 
a white-bloused  and  aproned 


37 


workmen  cuts  it  with  a fine, 
brass  wire  into  lengths  of  about 
two  feet. 


y. 

IN  THE  PRESSERS  ROOM. 

One  of  these  pieces  was  car- 
ried into  a small  room  where 
“the  butter,”  a girl,  cut  otf,  with 
a slender,  brass  wire,  a piece 
large  enough  for  a “Harcourt” 
plate.  She  patted  it  between 
her  hands  to  expel  the  air  yet 
more,  and  put  it  on  her  machine 
in  order  to  flatten  and  prepare 
it  for  the  next  workman,  the 
presser. 

His  machine  is  called  a jigger. 
It  is  a spindle,  resting  on  its 
point,  with  a head  on  which  a 
mould  made  of  plaster  of  Paris 
is  placed.  This  mould  was 


39 


made  from  the  inside  of  a plate 
and  is  turned  upside  down.  The 
flattened  dough  is  placed  upon 
it  and  pressed  firmly  and  evenly 
by  the  presser  with  a small,  thin, 
wooden  instrument,  termed  a 
“pr°fde?”  whose  working  edge 
is  so  cut  that  it  shapes  the  out- 
line of  the  outside  of  the  plate 
as  it  is  whirled  two  or  three 
times  around.  The  presser  dips 
his  tool,  or  fingers,  again  and 
again,  in  a pot  of  water  while  he 
works,  fashioning  the  outside 
and  trimming  the  paste  away  as 
a woman  cuts  the  extra  dough 
from  the  edge  of  her  pie-plate. 

After  the  mould,  which  was 
also  made  in  this  factory,  had 
somewhat  absorbed  the  moisture 


40 


from  the  dough  plate,  the  latter 
had  become  strong  enough  to 
he  taken  off  the  mould,  when  it 
was  stamped  “P.  G.”  and  dated 
“3-93.”  Then  I,  very  carefully, 
with  the  sharpened  point  of  my 
lead  pencil,  pricked  in  the  ini- 
tials of  my  own  name  on  the 
bottom  of  each  one  of  my  half 
dozen,  thus  making  sure  that 
all  the  way  through  to  the  beau- 
tiful conclusion  I should  be  fol- 
lowing, watching  and  handling 
this  identical  six. 

And  now  one  of  the  girls  (how 
interested  all  the  workers  were !) 
placed  the  plates  in  the  “dob- 
by ,”  a revolving  set  of  shelves  in 
a closet  heated  to  the  necessary 
temperature  by  a fire  under- 


41 


neath,  and  there  they  remained 
until  the  forenoon  of  the  next 
day,  when  they  were  taken  out 
and  fettled.  The  fettler  held 
the  plates  one  by  one  in  her 
hand  and  deftly  trimmed  the 
edges  with  a small,  steel  instru- 
ment, which  she  now  and  again 
sharpened  and  hied.  This  is  a 
thin,  narrow  piece  of  steel,  bent 
at  the  end,  and  grooved  to  ht 
the  scalloped  edge  and  take  off 
any  extra  clay  after  the  piece 
has  been  fired  in  the  dobby.  It 
is  worthy  of  note  that  all  the 
clay  thus  pared  off  is  gathered 
up  and  used  again,  probably  in 
an  inferior  grade  of  earthen- 
ware. 

Our  plates  have  large,  shoal 


42 


scallops,  alternating  with  small 
ones.  This  style  is  named 
“Harcourt”  for  the  famous  tem- 
perance reformer  and  liberal, 
Sir  William  Harcourt. 

After  this  little  preliminary 
fettling,  during  which  I won- 
dered if  the  objects  of  my  regard 
would  not  crumble  before  my 
very  eyes  (but  the  girl  evidently 
had  no  such  anxiety),  they 
were  placed  one  by  one  in  a 
whirler,  face  up  this  time,  and 
now,  somewhat  hardened,  yet 
still  very  susceptible  to  the  wet 
sponge  that  the  girl  holds  to  the 
plate  with  her  right  hand  as  she 
rapidly  revolves  the  whirler  by 
her  left  hand,  are  further 
smoothed  and  then  bedded  in  a 


43 


plaster  of  Paris  setter  partly 
filled  with  sifted  sand,  to  keep 
them  from  losing  shape  after 
having  been  sponged,  and  while 
they  are  undergoing  their  first 
firing.  The  sand  is  also  scattered 
between  them,  as  a cook  uses 
flour,  to  keep  them  from  stick- 
ing and  baking  together. 

The  dishes  are  usually  carried 
away  on  a board  by  men  who 
rest  their  load  on  the  shoulder, 
but  our  young  woman  wanted 
to  carry  these  ; so  I followed  her 
to  the  placer’s  room  not  far 
away,  where  I waited,  watching 
the  busy  men  and  making  notes 
until  the  time  came  for  my 
plates  to  go  into  the  oven. 


VI. 


WITH  THE  PLACERS  AND  OVEN- 
MEN. 

The  note-book  reads  thus : 
44 Good  weight,  ’nough  to  crush 
him  to  the  earth  !”  one  man  ex- 
claims, as  he  helps  another  to 
lift  to  his  head  a loaded  saggar, 
two  hundred  pounds  weight.  A 
man  has  just  brought  on  his 
shoulder  to  this  room  a board, 
padded  and  covered  with  flan- 
nel, holding  thirty-two  unbaked 
platters,  eight  piles,  four  in  a 
pile.  These  are  to  go  into  the 
saggars  (a  reduction  from  the 
word  safeguard),  in  which 
vessels  they  will  remain  while 


45 


being  fired.  Twenty  platters 
in  two  piles  of  ten  fill  a saggar  : 
first  the  placer  puts  enough  of 
a rather  coarse,  brown  sand, 
found  in  the  district,  into  the 
safeguard  to  keep  the  lowest 
platter  steady,  and  away  from 
the  bottom  of  the  saggar ; then 
he  places  nine  platters,  sprink- 
ling sand  between  them;  next 
he  puts  in  a saucer  upside  down 
for  a support  to  the  tenth  plat- 
ter, which,  upside  down,  serves 
as  the  cover  of  the  pile.  A 
quick  flame  might  find  a way  to 
dart  one  smoky  flash  between 
the  saggars  that  would  blacken 
this  top  dish,  and  should  there 
accidentally  be  a little  darken- 


46 


ing  of  the  bottom  of  this  one  it 
would  become  a “second.” 

Saggars,  — the  deepest  are 
thirty-two  inches  in  height,  filled 
with  all  sizes  and  shapes  of  un- 
baked ware,  are  being  carried 
on  the  heads  of  the  men,  who 
often  do  not  put  so  much  as  a 
finger  up  to  steady  their  burden, 
and  piled  in  the  oven  in  col- 
umns, “bungs.”  More  of  the 
sand,  used  between  the  dishes, 
is  put  between  the  saggars. 
This  is  all  very  interesting  to 
observe. 

By  and  by  comes  the  turn  of 
my  precious  six.  They  are 
honored  with  a saggar  to  them- 
selves, and  are  put  in  it  just  as 
the  fettler  brought  them  from 


47 


her  workroom.  I accompany 
the  man  who  has  them  on  his 
head  to  the  oven,  and  see  them 
set  away  well  up  in  a bung 
where  they  will  remain  from 
this  Wednesday  afternoon  until 
next  Monday  morning. 

Flat  ware  like  plates  do  not 
need  so  much  heat  as  hollow 
ware,  such  as  soup  tureens,  etc., 
and  some  parts  of  an  oven  must 
always  be  hotter  than  another. 

Eight  saggars  with  their  outer 
sides  broken  in,  containing  trial 
pieces  of  the  dough,  are  put  in 
as  many  different  parts  of  the 
oven,  where  they  can  be  easily 
reached  through  small  holes 
from  the  outside. 

You  remember  an  oven  re- 


48 

sembles  the  down-turned  bowl 
of  an  immense  i4T.  D.”  pipe; 
consequently  the  two  highest 
piles  of  saggars  are  in  the  mid- 
dle (thirty  saggars  in  each 
bung),  and  the  lowest  are  at  the 
sides.  They  are  set  upon  bricks 
that  there  may  be  a circulation 
of  heat  beneath  them.  The 
saggars  used  in  the  first  firing 
are  unglazed. 

I stand  within  the  oven  and 
watch  the  men:  four  are  piling 
the  ware-filled  saggars  in  four 
stages  by  means  of  step-ladders 
which  they  call  “horses.”  On  the 
top  of  each  bung  goes  a new 
clay  saggar  to  be  baked.  As 
the  upper  part  is  filled  the 
horses  are  removed,  and  a work- 


49 


man  drops  out.  Now  the  oven 
is  nearly  full,  and  I will  take  a 
look  outside. 

The  inside  of  the  oven  is 
made  of  bricks,  and  a marl  that 
will  stand  a much  greater  heat 
than  ordinary  mortar.  Its  shell, 
which  is  suggestive  of  an  in- 
verted pipe  bowl,  is  built  of 
brick  and  common  mortar,  and 
is  banded  about  with  great  iron 
bands  to  serve  against  any  giving 
way  of  the  structure.  At  equal 
distances  around  the  oven  are 
twelve  mouths  with  double  iron 
doors;  into  these,  after  the  tires 
are  well  started  underneath, 
coals,  put  in  every  few  hours, 
will  have  been  fed  until  sixteen 
or  seventeen  tons  of  coal  shall 


50 

have  been  consumed  in  duly  fir- 
ing the  contents  of  this  oven. 
Below  each  of  these  mouths  is 
an  open  place  where  a boy 
under  the  eye  of  the  oven  man 
is  making  fires.  He  is  bring- 
ing in  great  shovelfuls  of  glow- 
ing coals  and  tossing  them  upon 
the  strong  iron  bars  of  the  grate 
among  big  pieces  of  black  coal. 
Now  he  has  got  his  fires  well 
agoing,  and  he  builds  up  with 
bricks  as  closely  as  he  can  the 
open  places  where  the  ashes 
will  fall.  Above  each  mouth 
there  is  a draft  to  regulate  the 
heat,  and  the  condition  of  the 
fires  will  occasionally  be  deter- 
mined by  a peep  into  the  mouths 
between  their  double  iron  doors. 


51 


The  man  who  has  already  been 
on  duty  for  many  hours  without 
sleep  will  watch  this  oven  until 
half-past  six  to-morrow  morn- 
ing. Then  the  oven  man  or 
head  placer  will  take  charge  of 
it  with  its  valuable  contents,  and 
he  will  not  go  home  or  sleep 
again  until  five  o’clock  on  Friday 
afternoon.  He  will  be  watch- 
ing, keeping  up  the  fires  most 
carefully,  and  smoking.  “You 
want  something  when  you  are 
up  with  these  ovens  to  pass 
away  your  time,”  he  says  to  me. 

How  much  depends  on  the 
faithfulness  of  these  watchers ! 
Hundreds  of  pounds!  I have 
been  told  that  a whole  ovenful 
of  ware  was  once  melted  down 


52 


at  a famous  pottery  of  this  dis- 
trict. The  nearer  completion 
the  ware,  the  greater  the  loss  of 
course. 

Finally  the  doorway  is  bricked 
up,  as  closely  as  possible  with- 
out mortar,  and  now  a workman 
carries  a big  platter  full  of  mor- 
tar that  I have  just  seen  him 
mix  of  sand,  and  marl  such  as 
is  used  to  set  the  bricks  of  the 
oven,  with  this  he  fills  all  the 
small  cracks  and  interstices, 
pressing  it  in  with  his  fingers  ; 
this  done  he  proceeds  to  plaster 
over  the  whole  doorway,  using 
his  hands.  “Why  don’t  you 
use  a trowel?”  I ask.  “We 
can’t,  couldn’t  get  it  in  the 


nicks,”  he  replies.  This  is 
4 4 daubing  the  clammans.” 

The  eight  small  openings,  2 
1-2x2  inches,  in  the  shell 
through  which  the  oven  man 
with  a long  iron  rod  from  time 
to  time  draws  out  the  before- 
mentioned  trial  pieces  to  help 
determine  the  progress  of  his 
firing,  are  each  now  closed  by  a 
brick  put  in  endways,  and  so 
left  that  it  can  be  readily  pulled 
out. 


VII. 


MAKING  THE  SAGGARS. 

Now  I go  to  see  a saggar 
made.  This  important  article 
will  ordinarily  serve  through 
seven  firings.  Three  kinds  of 
marl  enter  into  its  composition: 
one  sort  is  found  only  three 
hundred  yards  away,  another  a 
half  mile  off,  and  the  third  is 
brought  from  a distance  of  three 
miles.  These  are  mixed  to- 
gether with  water,  then  a fine 
“grog”  (old  saggars  ground  in  a 
“grog-mill” ) is  added.  The 
dough  goes  through  a pug-mill. 
As  it  comes  slowly  from  the 
spout  it  is  cut  into  sections,  and 


55 

these  are  borne  on  the  heads  of 
young  workmen  to  a room  where 
they  are  thoroughly  beaten  with 
a heavy  maul  into  a big  pile. 
Then  with  a steel  cutter  a piece 
is  cut  from  the  pile  and  beaten 
out  flat  upon  a table ; first  with 
a round  ashen  maul,  afterwards 
with  a square  flat  one.  The  table 
is  sprinkled  with  sand  as  a cook 
flours  her  moulding  board  when 
rolling  her  dough.  This  large 
sheet  of  paste  is  cut  into  strips 
long  enough  for  the  side  of  the 
saggars,  which  average  from 
nine  to  nineteen  inches  in  height. 
One  of  these  strips  is  now  fitted 
and  moulded  around  an  oval, 
wooden  drum.  The  seam  is  well 
beaten  down,  and  joined  closely 


56 


with  the  aid  of  a wet  rag,  and 
the  top  edge  is  made  solid,  to 
guard  against  cracking,  by  the 
addition  of  more  dough  in  which 
are  pressed  small  pieces  of 
broken  saggars.  The  bottom 
of  the  saggar  is  beaten  out  with- 
in an  oval,  iron  frame  furnished 
with  handles,  and  is  put  upon  a 
revolving  board.  The  drum 
with  the  moulded  side  is  set 
upon  it.  The  bottom  is  then 
pared  to  within  an  inch  of  the 
drum,  and  is  worked  up  by  a 
piece  of  wood  to  make  a junc- 
ture with  the  side  until  the  join- 
ing is  effaced.  To  fill  up  and 
smooth  the  seam  on  the  inside  a 
common  earthenware  clay,  and 
sand  wet  together  are  used.  A 


57 


flat  stick  dipped  in  water  levels 
the  edge,  and  the  saggar  is  set 
away  to  dry  before  being  fired. 
A cover  three  inches  thick,  styled 
an  “eller,”  is  made  for  the  top 
saggar  of  a column. 


“To-morrow  the  hot  furnace  flame 
Will  search  the  heart  and  try  the  frame, 
And  stamp  with  honor  or  with  shame 
These  vessels  made  of  clay.” 


VIII. 


IN  THE  DRAWING-WAREHOUSE. 

On  the  morning  of  Monday, 
March  20, 1 was  on  the  bank  in 
good  season.  My  plates  had 
safely  reached  the  biscuit  stage. 
While  they  were  undergoing 
their  fiery  ordeal  I was  visiting 
in  Birmingham,  but  all  the  time 
I had  been  not  a little  anxious 
about  this  baking ! The  process  of 
firing  occupies  about  fifty  hours, 
and  during  the  last  twenty-four 
the  heat  is  very  intense.  As 
many  more  hours  are  necessary 
for  the  cooling-off,  which  must 
be  gradual.  I went  first  into 
the  “drawing-warehouse,”  to 


59 

which  the  biscuit  ware  is  carried 
immediately  upon  being  drawn 
from  the  oven,  to  wait  until  the 
contents  of  the  oven  should  be 
partly  taken  out,  then  I could 
sit  in  it  and  watch  the  men  at 
work. 

Let  my  note-book  again  be  the 
medium : Different  clays  give  dif- 
ferent colored  wares : white  body, 
P.G.  body  (porcelain  granite  like 
our  plates),  and  ivory  body. 
Big  basketfuls  of  all  these  are 
coming  warm  from  the  oven  to 
this  room  where  a young  man 
examines  each  piece  of  biscuit. 
A fire  crack,  unnoticed  by  my 
untrained  eye,  is  instantly  de- 
tected and  noted  as  the  piece  is 
rapidly  scanned  by  the  pair  of 


60 


sharp  eyes  to  which  this  work  is 
entrusted,  and  a quick  knock  at 
the  same  moment  decides  its 
soundness.  A fire-crack  shows 
in  the  bottom  of  a pitcher,  “the 
woman  can  stop  it,”  a stroke  of 
the  lead  pencil  indicates  the  flaw 
and  the  necessity.  This  barely 
discovered  crack  about  a handle 
would  in  the  second  firing  grow 
to  a larger  and  perhaps  fatal 
one.  This,  filled  thoroughly, 
will  be  put  into  the  “hardening- 
on-kiln  a large  fire-crack 
having  been  repaired  would  need 
to  go  again  into  the  clay  oven. 

Girls  in  white  flannel  aprons, 
made  of  a straight  piece  a foot 
wide  by  two  long,  pinned  so  as 
to  make  a waist,  unpack  the 


61 


baskets  and  place  their  contents 
in  order,  cups  together,  saucers 
together,  covered  dishes  are  un- 
covered and  piled  together,  etc. 

In  an  adjoining  room  two 
girls  sort  cups,  a woman  is  sort- 
ing saucers.  I tremble  contin- 
ually with  fear  of  their  breaking 
the  dishes.  There  goes  a han- 
dle from  a cup  ! It  takes  eleven 
men  nine  or  ten  hours  to  draw 
this  oven. 


IX. 


IN  THE  OYEN. 

Now  I am  asked  to  go  to  the 
oven.  I shall  see  my  plates 
taken  out.  One  of  the  men 
brings  a ware  basket  and  turns 
it  upside  down  within  the  oven 
that  I may  sit  down  upon  it.  The 
atmosphere  of  the  oven  is  rather 
warm  even  yet.  Some  of  the 
men  handle  the  hot  saggars 
with  a leathern  protection  on 
their  hands. 

“If  Buffalo  Bill  had  to  do  this 
work  he’d  think  he  was  work- 
ing,” one  of  the  men  exclaims 
as  he  receives  a hot  saggar  full 
of  ware  from  the  man  who  is 


63 

unpiling  them  from  the  tops  of 
the  columns. 

The  men  stand  at  different 
heights  on  the  piled  up  saggars. 
A little  light  falls  upon  them 
from  the  opening  in  the  top  of 
the  oven,  and  a naked  gas-light 
flickers  within  beside  the  door- 
way. One  man  is  working  in 
trousers  and  a white  linen, 
waisted  apron,  no  shirt.  The 
muscles  of  his  shoulders  and 
arms  are  immense,  and  stand 
out  in  a wonderful  relief.  A 
running  talk  goes  on;  not  very 
easily  understood  is  their  rich, 
full,  Staffordshire  dialect. 

A man  comes  down  and  as  he 
stands  before  me  wiping  the 
perspiration  streaming  from  his 


64 


face  and  shoulders  says  : “Doesn't 
that  deserve  something  ?” 

“Deserve  something  ?”  I re- 
peated quickly  after  him. 

“Yes;  something  inside.” 

“O,  yes;  certainly,  plenty  of 
good  English  beef,”  I replied. 
“But  something  wet?” 
“Something  wet]”  I again  re- 
peated interrogatively. 

“Yes;  milk  and  eggs.” 

Now  it  dawned  upon  my  slow 
mind  ! I had  not  had  a thought 
of  drink-money  before  and 
happened  to  have  only  three 
ha’pence  in  change  (three  cents), 
giving  him  those  I explained 
that  I had  no  more  small  money ; 
and  I did  not  approve  of  beer ! 
He  took  them  without  a thank- 


65 


you  and  went  out  of  the  oven. 
One  of  his  companions  shouted 
after  him  rather  derisively : 
“Don’t  lose  ’em !” 

My  plates  were  taken  down 
and  given  warm  into  my  hands. 

A little  later  another  of  the 
men  came  to  me  outside  and 
said:  “You  might  have  given 
him  a shilling!” 

“But  I had  nothing  less  than 
a half  sovereign  ($2.40).” 

“He  could  have  got  it  changed. 
He  would  have  brought  it  back 
to  you.”  This  was  an  enlight- 
ening, and  as  Mr.  Turner  with 
plenty  of  change  happened  along 
just  then,  the  shilling  (24  cents) 
was  given  with  the  injunction 
not  to  spend  a penny  for  any- 


66 


thing  but  milk  and  eggs,  and 
the  warning  that  I should  stay 
by  to  see.  In  a few  minutes  I 
was  good-naturedly  shown  the 
coveted  refreshment. 


X. 


PRINTING  THE  PLATES. 

The  plates  were  next  taken 
to  the  printing  room,  and  I was 
given  permission  to  go  by  myself 
into  the  room  where  the  copper- 
plates are  kept  and  select  the 
designs  for  decoration. 

After  much  examination  and 
consideration  I decided  upon 
Mayflowers,  bachelor’s  buttons, 
daisies,  a delicate,  star-like,  flow- 
er pattern,  somewhat  conven- 
tionalized, and  two  others,  which 
my  friend  Mr.  Turner  prefers, 
“a  creeper,”  and  a dainty  spray. 

Again  to  the  printing-room. 
The  printer  first  cleans  the  cop- 


68 


perplates  with  spirits  of  tar,  and 
that  is  cleaned  off*  in  a box  of 
sawdust,  then  the  copperplate 
is  heated  on  the  top  of  a small, 
brick  furnace.  The  remaining 
tar  and  sawdust  is  pressed  out 
of  the  pattern  with  soft  tissue 
paper. 

The  chosen  colors  for  the 
prints  are  prepared : a delicate 
dove  color,  one  of  Mr.  Turner’s 
own  receipts,  for  the  bachelors 
buttons,  the  daisies  and  the  star- 
flower  ; sepia  and  chocolate  for 
the  others. 

The  paint  is  rubbed  into  the 
lines  of  the  engraved  copper- 
plate with  a dab  ; what  is  super- 
fluous is  scraped  off  with  a thin, 
broad,  flexible  knife,  and  a first 


69 


impression  is  taken  under  the 
press,  to  further  clean  the  plate. 
For  the  print  a tissue  paper  wet 
with  soapy  water  is  always  used. 

Now  the  transferrer  takes  the 
print,  cuts  away  the  needless  pa- 
per with  her  scissors,  and  fits  the 
pattern  on  the  plate.  Some- 
times the  same  pattern  is  used 
for  plates  of  different  shapes  and 
sizes  and  then  it  becomes  a nice 
piece  of  work  to  adapt  and  join 
it,  often  three  or  four  times. 
When  the  print  has  been  fitted 
and  allowed  to  set  a few  min- 
utes a plain  tissue  paper  is  laid 
over  it,  and  the  transferrer  rubs 
it  with  a long  dab.  The  outer 
paper  is  removed,  and  again  the 
pattern  is  rubbed  in  hard,  with 


70 


a tight  roll  of  flannel  this  time. 
A piece  of  leather  a foot  square 
is  nailed  on  the  bench  in  front 
of  each  transferrer ; on  this  she 
rests  her  plate  while  she  works. 
After  the  transferring,  the  plates 
are  allowed  to  remain  an  hour 
and  a half,  to  dry,  then  the  tissue 
paper  of  the  pattern  is  all 
washed  off  in  a tub  full  of  wa- 
ter. The  girl  who  washes  the 
plates  erases  with  a piece  of  In- 
dian rubber  any  little  trace  of 
unnecessary  printing.  This  done 
she  sets  her  plates  on  edge,  to 
drain  and  dry^until  the  follow- 
ing day.  Printers  and  transfer- 
rers are  usually  paid  by  the 
piece. 


XI. 


THE  HARDENING-KILN. 

At  eleven  o’clock  the  next 
forenoon  we  put  the  plates  into 
the  “hardening-on-kiln”  in  which 
they  were  heated  red  hot,  to 
burn  all  the  oil  out  of  the  paint 
that  it  may  hold  the  glaze.  There 
are  three  kilns  in  a row  together  ; 
the  plates  went  into  the  middle 
one,  which  has  the  most  even 
heat.  These  kilns  are  arched 
over  the  top.  A small  double 
iron  door,  perhaps  8 x 15  inches, 
high  up  in  the  end  opposite  the 
one  by  which  we  enter,  seems 
to  somewhat  regulate  the  heat 
and  let  out  any  smoke,  etc.  from 


72 


the  paint  and  oil.  There  are 
two  fire  holes  under  the  middle 
kiln ; one  in  front,  and  one  at 
the  back.  Flues  carry  the  fire 
under  the  floor  and  between  the 
wTalls  up  the  sides  of  each  kiln. 
“There’s  flues  all  ’round  ’em,” 
the  placer  says.  The  ware  is 
packed  in  the  kilns,  every  plate 
separated  from  its  fellows  by 
three  small  square  pieces  of 
earthenware,  “bits.”  The  fold- 
ing, iron  doors,  each  made  with 
an  upper  and  lower  section,  are 
closed  temporarily  until  all  the 
kilns  are  filled,  when  they  are 
plastered  up  tightly.  Coal  will 
be  put  on  the  fires  up  to  seven 
o’clock  P.  M.;  then  the  dishes 


73 


will  be  again  left  to  themselves 
for  the  next  twelve  hours. 


XII. 


GLAZING  AND  THE  GLAZE. 

On  the  succeeding  Monday 
morning,  March  27,  I saw  my 
plates  dipped  in  a tub  containing 
a glaze  which  looked  very  like 
cream.  The  dipper  was  clean 
and  tidy  in  his  white  linen 
blouse  and  apron.  He  used,  in 
dipping,  a wire,  fastened  to  his 
right  hand  by  a leathern  ring 
around  his  thumb,  and  so  bent 
at  the  end  as  to  grasp  the  plate 
underneath.  When  the  plates 
had  been  dipped  a girl  carried 
them  in  a pile  with  three,  tiny, 
three-footed  “stilts”  placed  be- 
tween each,  and  on  the  top  one, 


75 

to  a warm  room  to  remain  an 
hour.  The  biscuit  body  absorbed 
the  moisture  of  the  glaze  quickly 
and  then  a white  powder  showed 
all  over  the  plates.  The  pat- 
tern had  utterly  disappeared  as 
soon  as  they  were  dipped. 

A bottleful  of  the  liquid  glaze 
ready  for  use  is  before  me.  It 
is  not  an  ordinary  covering ; but 
a beautiful,  fritted  glaze.  The 
materials  in  the  list  below  are 
melted  together  into  a liquid 
glass,  which  is  broken  up  by 
running  it  into  cold  water.  A 
specimen  of  the  frit  is  in  my  col- 
lection. It  is  a semi-translucent, 
bluish  white  glass. 

Borax,  or  boracic  acid  from 
Tuscany. 


76 


Tincal  from  Thibet. 

Soda  crystals,  or  carbonate  of 
soda. 

Flint  from  Dieppe. 

Stone  from  Cornwall. 

Whiting,  or  carbonate  of  lime. 

China  clay  from  Devonshire. 

“The  tone  and  quality  of  the 
glaze  depend  upon  the  chemical 
knowledge  displayed  in  deciding 
upon  the  quantities  of  the  com- 
ponent parts.  A proportion  of 
the  above  glass  is  mixed  with 
Cornish  stone  and  carbonate  of 
lead,  and  again  the  beauty  of 
the  glaze  is  determined  by  the 
knowledge  in  deciding  the  pro- 
portions. These  ingredients 
are  ground  together  and  become 
the  cream  in  which  you  have 


77 

seen  your  plates  immersed.” 
Thus  wrote  Mr.  Brownfield,  who, 
as  a chemist,  is  hardly  second  to 
any  in  the  potteries.  But  much 
more  than  beauty  depends  upon 
a glazing.  If  it  crackles  it  ab- 
sorbs greases  and  odors,  and  the 
article  becomes  unfit  for  the  use 
of  a clean,  dainty,  and  fastidious 
buyer,  or  cook.  The  receipts 
for  glazes  are  the  profoundest 
secrets. 


XIII. 


THE  SECOND  FIRING. 

Once  more  the  plates  are 
packed  in  a saggar  for  firing, and 
it  is  interesting  to  know  that 
this  time  they  must  be  put  in  a 
glazed  saggar,  glazed  on  the 
inside  and  on  the  bottom  out- 
side; for  you  remember  the  bot- 
tom of  one  safeguard  is  the 
cover  to  the  one  beneath  it.  An 
unglazed  saggar  would  “suck” 
the  glaze  from  the  plates  to  it- 
self. The  plates  are  now  placed 
edgeways.  Across  the  bottom 
of  the  saggar  is  laid  a long, 
glazed,  prism-shaped,  clay  “sad- 
dle” on  which  the  lower  edge  of 


79 


the  plate  rests,  while  the  upper 
edge  is  held  in  place  by  an 
earthenware  4 ‘thimble.”  A lit- 

tle soft  clay  is  stuck  against  the 
inside  of  the  saggar;  into  this 
the  first  thimble  is  set.  Another 
thimble  fits  into  the  first  one, 
and  its  tip  holds  a second  plate, 
and  so  on.  The  edge  of  the 
saggar  in  this  firing  is  sprinkled 
with  ground  flint,  and  a roll 
of  a special  soft  clay  is  put 
all  around  oh  top  of  that  to  keep 
any  smoke,  or  vapor,  or  ashes 
from  its  contents.  Iron  in  the 
coal  ashes  is  likely  to  cause 
brownish  spots  on  the  ware.  The 
filled  saggar  was  borne  on  a 
workman’s  head  and  placed  in 
the  glost  oven. 


80 


Trial  pieces,  often  in  the  shape 
of  small  rings,  to  show  when 
the  vitrifaction  is  perfect  are  put 
in  this  oven. 

These  clay  and  glost  ovens 
are  built  according  to  Minton’s 
patents.  The  flames  from  the 
oven  mouths  go  up  ten  flues, 
technically  called  4 ; bags,”  2 1-2 
feet  high  x 1 1-2  wide  x 1 1-2 
deep.  The  brick  walls  of  the  oven 
above  the  flues  are  blackened 
and  glassy  on  the  surface  from 
the  flames  of  many  firings.  Be- 
tween the  flues  are  holes  in  the 
floor  over  which  the  bungs  of 
safeguards  containing  the  dishes 
are  set  up  on  bricks.  Eighteen 
inches  from  these  holes  is 
another  circle  of  similar  ones.  All 


81 


the  apertures  in  this  circle  are 
four  and  a half  inches  square. 
Over  each  one  is  placed  a column 
of  saggars,  elevated  so  as  to 
leave  the  openings  free.  In 
the  center  is  the  “well-hole,”  a 
foot  in  diameter.  Outside  of 
this  are  still  more  holes,  thirty- 
four  in  all.  A draught  through 
these  draws  the  flames  down 
and  up  the  ten  flues  between 
the  walls  of  the  oven  and  its 
shell.  The  exhaust  smoke  and 
flames  go  out  through  the  open 
top. 

These  large  ovens  with  their 
smoke  and  waving  flames  dot 
the  sad  landscape  of  North  Staf- 
fordshire, giving  it,  especially  at 
night,  a weird  and  strange  ap- 


82 


pearance  to  the  traveler  unac- 
customed to  it  all. 

After  each  firing  the  cracks 
must  be  stopped  in  the  glost,  as 
in  the  clay  oven,  and  the  door- 
way bricked  up  and  plastered 
with  “clamming  dirt.”  The 
plates  will  remain  here  about 
twenty-five  hours.  The  heat  of 
this  oven  is  much  less  than  that 
of  the  clay  oven.  When  the 
oven  is  ready  to  be  opened,  a 
slide  in  the  top  of  it,  just  beneath 
the  “crown-hole”  in  the  outsiders 
drawn,  and  the  upper  part  of  the 
doorway  is  “knocked  in,”  thus 
making  a draught  in  order  to 
cool  it  off.  I attempted  to  look 
within  as  soon  as  one  had  been 
opened.  More  than  one  trial 


83 


was  necessary ; it  was  so  very 
hot.  Everything  was  a beauti- 
ful, flaming,  fiery  red.  One 
could  perceive  no  outline  of  sag- 
gar. After  a little,  the  opening 
in  the  top  showed  black. 


XIV. 


IN  THE  SORTING  AND  POLISHING- 
ROOMS. 

The  thimbles  and  saddles  that 
had  supported  the  plates  while 
in  the  glost  oven  had  caused 
tiny  elevations  on  the  edges  of 
the  plates,  and  they  had  to  be 
taken  to  the  sorting  room  where 
two  women  beat  them  with  their 
heavy,  steel  chisels  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  make  me  anxious 
lest  at  this  late  stage  the  objects 
of  my  tender  solicitude  should 
be  shattered.  The  glassy  atoms 
that  fly  off  here  must  be  danger- 
ous for  throat,  and  lungs,  and 
eyes. 


The  edges  of  the  plates  are 
not  perfect  yet.  In  the  polish- 
ing-room a man  sits  solitary 
with  basketfuls  of  fine  earthen- 
ware and  costly  china  on  the 
floor  about  him.  We  must  visit 
him.  First  he  holds  the  little 
spots  to  a small  emery  wheel, 
kept  continually  wet  by  a damp 
sponge  adjusted  so  as  to  touch 
the  wheel  as  it  revolves,  then  to 
another,  and  larger,  wheel,  a 
wooden  one.  This  was  touched 
with  a sponge  on  a stick,  dipped 
occasionally  in  “a  little  medi- 
cine,” compounded  after  a pre- 
scription which  the  polisher  said 
was  “a  secret”  of  his  own.  “I 
will  tell  you  one  thing  there  is 
in  it,”  he  volunteered,  “there  is 


86 

flint.”  A third  time  these  plates 
went  under  a wheel,  this  time  a 
cork  one,  and  had  they  been 
china,  a fourth,  a bristle  wheel, 
would  have  been  called  into  use. 


XV. 


WITH  THE  DECORATOR. 

Back  to  the  familiar  decora- 
ting room ! 

I seated  myself  beside  a girl 
apprentice,  to  see  the  printed 
patterns  “tilled  in.”  Her  hair 
is  a lovely  red,  and  that  at  the 
front  is  drawn  softly  from  the 
forehead  and  fastened  with  a 
hairpin  in  a little  twist  behind, 
leaving  all  the  rest  to  flow  down 
her  back  over  the  dull  green, 
worsted  gown.  There  are  points 
of  orange,  and  yellow,  in  her  ha- 
zel eyes,  and  her  delicate  pink 
cheeks  are  well  matched  by  the 
small  pink  and  white  checkered 


88 


apron.  She  is  “ turned  sixteen” 
and  has  accomplished  four  and 
a half  of  the  seven  years’  appren- 
ticeship. At  present,  she  earns, 
on  an  average,  about  eight  shil- 
lings ($2.00)  for  six  days’  work. 
One  half  of  this  is  allowed  to 
the  “master.”  By  and  by  he 
will  receive  four  pence  in  the 
shilling  (one-third),  and  during 
the  last  year  of  her  time  two 
pence  only  in  the  shilling  will 
be  allowed  to  the  employer. 
When  our  maiden  shall  have 
become  a journey  woman  she 
will  have  all  she  can  earn.  Her 
work  is  paid  for  by  the  dozen, 
if  plates,  if  toilet  ware,  by  the 
set.  She  holds  our  plate,  tipped 
upon  her  left  hand.  A square, 


white  earthenware  tile  before 
her  is  her  palette.  There  are 
two  or  three  little  puddles  of 
paint  on  it.  The  colors  were 
ground  on  a glass  muller,  in  a 
small  room  used  exclusively  for 
the  preparation  of  dry  paints  and 
gold,  by  a woman  who  does 
nothing  else  all  the  day  long. 
And  now  they  have  been  mixed 
here  with  fat  oil  (turpentine). 
Sweet  sixteen  dips  her  camel’s- 
hair  brush  in  the  oil,  “to  make 
it  work  level,”  and  proceeds  to 
tint  all  the  petals,  then  the  sta- 
mens. 

When  the  plates  had  dried  a 
little  they  were  put  into  the 
hands  of  Mrs.  S , in  the  ad- 

joining room,  to  be  finished  with 


90 


gilt  lines  on  edges  and  shoul- 
ders, and  to  have  gilt  dots  added 
to  the  bachelor’s  button  and 
daisy  plates.  The  gold  is  dark 
brown  in  color  before  it  is  fired. 
“Liquid  gold”  was  used  on  all 
save  the  Mayflower  plate;  that 
shines  with  three  lines  of  the 
very  best  gold,  such  as  will  stand 
many  years’  wear.  It  is  fasci- 
nating to  watch  this  work,  and 
it  looks  very  easy ; but  neither 
you,  nor  I,  after  months  of  trial 
could  make  those  lines.  I am 
told  that  not"  every  one  can  be- 
come a first-rate  “bander  and 
liner a good  eye  and  steady 
hand  are  necessary.  Each  plate 
with  a small  piece  of  wet  cloth 
underneath  it,  and  a leaden 


91 


weight  in  it,  both,  to  keep  the 
plate  steady,  is  set  on  a small, 
round,  revolving  table.  The 
latter  is  turned  by  the  left  hand, 
and  the  delicate  camel’s-hair 
brush  is  held  to  the  plate  by  the 
right  hand.  More  than  once 
the  plate  goes  around.  A still 
more  delicate  brush  makes  the 
dots.  Again  the  plates  are 
piled  up  with  “stilts”  between 
them  (these  stilts  are  larger 
than  the  others),  care  being 
taken  that  their  points  do  not 
touch  the  decoration. 


XVI. 


THE  ENAMEL  KILN. 

Now  the  plates  are  about  to 
undergo,  for  the  last  time,  a 
strong  heat.  Movable  iron 
shelves,  perforated  with  inch 
holes,  to  allow  the  heat  to  circu- 
late, furnish  receptacles  for  the 
dishes  in  the  enamel,  or  muffle 
kiln.  The  props  for  the  shelves 
are  also  of  iron,  and  adjustable; 
so  that  as  fast  as  one  shelf  is 
filled  another  can  be  put  up, 
and  close  packing  is  thus  accom- 
plished. Double  iron  doors, 
each  in  upper  and  lower  sec- 
tions, swing  wide  to  admit  a man 
with  his  load  of  decorated  ware. 


93 

These  doors  are  lined  with 
Stourbridge  fire-clay,  for  if  the 
doors  were  of  iron  alone  they 
would  melt  under  the  fervent 
heat  that  fixes  the  gold  and  col- 
ors on  the  glaze.  This  kiln  is 
kept  very  clean,  and  is  often 
whitewashed  inside.  It  is  about 
16  feet  deep,  9 feet  high,  and  4 
feet  4 inches  wide.  It  is  one  of 
a row  of  four  enamel-kilns,  fed 
by  sixteen  mouths.  The  fire 
and  heat  circulate  through  flues 
which  do  not  open  into  the  body 
of  the  kiln.  All  the  cracks  must 
be  stopped  with  clay.  Each  kiln 
has  its  small  trial  hole,  closed 
as  in  the  other  cases  with  a 
brick,  in  the  upper  section  of  the 
right-hand  door,  from  which  are 


94 


taken  out  small  fragments  of 
earthenware  like  our  plates, 
daubed  with  carmine  and  gold; 
these  are  used  as  tests  because 
they  change  much  during  the 
firing. 

I watch  the  two  sturdy  young 
men,  who,  with  sleeves  rolled 
up,  are  drawing  the  finished 
ware  into  piles  and  baskets  from 
the  kiln,  while  others  come  to 
hear  the  crockery  away.  The 
clatter  of  the  dishes  is  some- 
thing alarming ! It  seems  as  if 
they  would  smash  every  one.  I 
say  as  much.  Fenton  answers, 
“No;  we  learn  to  be  careful. 
I’ve  broken  two  lots,  and  at  one 
time  I had  to  pay  about  fifteen 
shillings !” 


XVII. 


BURNISHING. 

After  the  plates,  embellished 
with  their  golden  lines  and 
pretty  tints,  had  been  burned 
in  the  enamel-kiln,  they  were 
all  finished  with  the  exception 
of  the  Mayflower  plate,  whose 
“best  gold”  lines  had  yet  to  be 
burnished.  This  need  intro- 
duced us  into  the  burnishing- 
room,  and  into  the  company  of 
women  who  had  worked  many 
years  at  this  branch  of  decora- 
ting. 

I asked  her,  who  took  the 
plate  in  hand,  how  long  she  had 
worked. 


96 


“I  served  my  time  here,  the 
time  is  in  the  book  in  the  office ; 
but  I don’t  keep  it  in  my  head, 
think  it  is  about  forty-five  years.” 

First  she  dipped  a dampened, 
white  cotton  cloth  in  silver  sand 
and  rubbed  the  gilded  edge; 
then  another  cloth  in  whitening 
and  again  rubbed  the  edge  ; then 
she  polished  it  with  a clean 
cloth,  not  allowing  the  fingers 
to  come  in  contact  with  the  gold. 
After  this  it  was  rubbed  very 
hard  with  a bloodstone  fitted 
into  a handle. 

On  the  burnisher’s  workbench 
was  a collection  of  gem  tools, 
agates  and  bloodstones.  She 
4 ‘couldn’t  do  without  half  a doz- 
en, some  have  a dozen,  need 


97 


two  agates.”  For  some  work 
the  gems  must  be  sharp-pointed. 
I noticed  that  the  scalloped  edge 
was  burnished  with  a larger 
stone  than  was  used  on  the  fine 
line  next  to  it.  These  lines 
having  been  “browned”  with 
bloodstones  were  a second  time 
whitened,  “to  finish  it,”  and 
once  more  burnished  with  the 
gems.  It  is  now  easy  to  under- 
stand how  much  longer  gilded 
decoration,  that  can  undergo 
such  treatment,  will  last  than 
the  liquid  gold  so  much  in  vogue. 

The  original  designs  for  dec- 
oration had  been  adapted  to 
my  taste : borders  cut  off, 

and  gilt  lines  substituted ; the 
impressions  printed  in  special 


98 

colors,  and  tints  for  filling  in 
changed. 

Who  could  tell  but  that  some- 
body might  want  crates  of 
plates  like  mine'?  To  provide 
for  an  event  so  much  to  be 
hoped  for,  I took  the  dear 
six  the  next  day  to  one  of  the 
artists’  rooms,  that  a young  man 
there  might  transfer  prints, 
made  in  the  printing-room,  to 
sheets  of  plain  paper,  and  color 
in  water  colors  sections  of  pat- 
terns for  the  sample-book  from 
each  plate. 


XVIII. 


THE  SIX  IN  HAND. 

Oh  the  10th  of  April,  the 
twenty-eighth  day  from  the  be- 
ginning of  my  observations,  I 
congratulated  myself  upon  the 
possession  of  very  tangible  evi- 
dence of  great  patience  and 
beautiful  good-will  exercised  bv 
the  many  men  and  women  of 
the  Guild  with  whom  I,  a stran- 
ger from  a far-away  country,, 
had  spent  so  many  pleasant  and 
profitable  hours.  Remember 
the  many  little  journeys  on  this 
“ pot-bank,”  and  the  number  of 
hands  through  which,  from  first 
to  last,  these  plates  have  passed ; 


100 

the  time  and  coal  consumed  in 
their  production,  and  the  mate- 
rials that  have  entered  into  the 
composition  of  body  and  glaze, 
to  say  nothing  of  what  has  gone 
to  make  up  the  receipt  for  print 
colors,  filling-in-paints,  and  oils. 
Consider  how  many  lands,  and 
hands,  and  brains,  and  breezes 
have  lain  under  tribute  for  cen- 
turies to  this  fair  end,  and  our 
convenience. 

And  these  will  be  retailed  in 
our  American  shops  for  from 
about  two  and  a quarter  to  three 
dollars  a dozen,  according  to 
decoration!  The  tariff  is  sixty 
per  cent ! Should  you  grudge  the 
price?  Do  you  wonder  that  the 
industry  languishes  in  England  X 


101 

This  leads  me  to  the  reason 
for  the  formation  of  the  Brown- 
fields Guild-Pottery  Society. 

“The  Potteries”  include  eleven 
or  twelve  towns  in  the  upper 
valley  of  the  Trent,  extending 
as  many  miles,  and  so  closely 
connected  that  a stranger  cannot 
tell  where  one  town  begins  and 
another  leaves  off.  These  towns 
aggregate  three  hundred  thou- 
sand, or  more,  inhabitants,  who 
are  potters,  colliers,  and  the 
tradesmen  supported  by  such  a 
community. 

Since  1879,  master-potters 
have  been  complaining  of  a fall- 
ing off  in  their  profits  and  have 
been  continually  insisting  on  a 
reduction  of  wages,  while  the 


102 

wage-workers  declare  that  their 
earnings  are  being  cut  down 

C C1 

below  the  living  point. 

For  nearly  two  years  prior  to 
October.  1892.  Mr.  Arthur 
Brownfield,  principal,  during 
more  than  twenty-one  years,  of 
the  long-established  firm  of  Wil- 
liam Brownfield  and  Sons,  one 
of  the  six  most  famous  English 
pottery  companies,  had  used  his 
pen  and  personal  influence  in 
order  to  bring  about  a better 
state  of  things. 

He  claimed  that  reckless  com- 
petition. undercutting,  under- 
selling, the  Moose  system  of  set- 
ting down  apprentices,”  and  the 
lack  of  Christian  sympathy  be- 
tween masters  and  men  are  re- 


103 

sponsible  for  the  bad  condition 
of  the  district,  and  he  urged  the 
formation  of  a Potters’  Guild, 
composed  of  representative  mas- 
ters and  men  elected  for  one 
year ; for  the  creation  of  a har- 
mony of  feeling  and  action  be- 
tween labor  and  capital ; for  the 
improvement  in  quality  of  manu- 
factures by  employment  of  well- 
trained  operatives,  and  for  the 
raising  of  selling-prices  and 
the  keeping  up  of  the  wages  of 
the  men. 

His  efforts  met  with  but  little 
practical  encouragement  from 
the  three  hundred  manufacturers 
of  pottery  and  porcelain  in  North 
Staffordshire. 


XIX. 


FORMATION  OF  THE  GUILD. 

At  the  close  of  the  midsummer 
holiday  in  August,  1892,  his 
firm  made  known  its  intention 
of  closing  the  business;  profits 
had  become  too  small. 

Thereupon  a delegation  of 
the  old  workmen  waited  upon 
Mr.  Arthur  Brownfield,  whom 
they  love,  offering,  if  he  would 
buy  out  the  other  partners  and 
continue  the  business,  to  work 
for  him  four  weeks  out  of  every 
eight  without  pay.  There  was 
a conference  of  the  partners.  The 
committee  of  men  was  recalled, 
and  my  informant,  one  of  the 


105 


number,  relates  that  their  “mas- 
ter” with  tears  flowing  down  his 
cheeks  assured  them  that  he 
would  accede  to  their  desire. 

Now  Mr.  Brownfield  began 
to  put  in  operation,  on  a smaller 
scale  among  his  own  work-peo- 
ple, his  idea  of  a guild ; and  on 
the  15th  of  October,  1892,  there 
appeared  in  the  Midland  news- 
papers a prospectus  which  set 
forth  the  scheme  of  the  Brown- 
fields Guild-Pottery  Society, 
Limited.  Its  share  capital  £20,- 
000,  shares  £1  each.  The 
“chief- worker,”  as  the  founder 
democratically  styles  himself, 
took  six  thousand  shares  in  part 
payment  of  his  purchase  money, 
and  the  other  working-members 


106 


of  the  Guild,  men  and  women, 
many  of  whom  during  their 
working  lives,  have  been  em- 
ployees of  the  Brownfields,  two 
thousand  shares. 

Within  a month  from  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  advertisement 
trades  unions  had  subscribed 
largely,  and  co-operative  stores 
had  pledged  their  support  to 
the  Company. 

“The  shares  taken  by  the 
Founder  will  be  in  the  form 
of  Loan  Stock  (bearing  in- 
terest at  the  rate  of  5 per 
cent.)  which,  under  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  Guild,  will,  together 
with  the  £2,000  subscribed  by 
the  workers,  remain  as  perma- 
nent security  for  other  investors, 


107 


as  the  certificate  by  which  the 
capital  held  by  the  Founder  and 
his  associates  is  secured  does 
not  confer  a right  to  demand 
payment  of  the  principal  from 
the  Guild,  so  long  as  any  claim 
for  share-capital  held  by  the 
outside  public  remains  unpaid. 

“It  is  hoped  that  the  fact  of 
there  being  £8,000  practically 
irremovable  will  beget  sufficient 
confidence  in  the  minds  of  in- 
tending investors. 

“It  is  proposed  to  pay  dividend 
on  capital  at  the  rate  of  £6  per 
cent,  per  annum. 

“The  remaining  profits,  after 
providing  liberally  for  deprecia- 
tion and  other  charges  on  the  busi- 
ness, will  be  allotted  as  follows : 


108 


44 1.  Three  fourths  to  all  per- 
sons who,  during  the  whole  of  the 
period  to  which  the  division  re- 
lates, have  been  employed  by  the 
Guild-Pottery  Society  for  not 
less  than  six  months  in  the 
whole  — the  proportion  of  prof- 
its falling  due  to  each  person 
to  be  determined  in  such  man- 
ner as  the  committee  may  de- 
termine from  time  to  time. 

54  2.  One  fourth  to  the  custom- 
ers in  such  proportion  and  in 
such  manner  as  may  be  deter- 
mined from  time  to  time  by  the 
committee.  The  share  of  profit 
falling  to  the  workers  will 
not  be  paid  in  cash,  but  will  be 
credited  to  their  account  as 
share-capital  in  the  Guild,  thus 


109 

retaining  it  in  the  Guild  for 
further  use. 

“As  an  additional  security  to 
outside  investors  the  active 
workers  in  the  Guild-Pottery 
have  agreed  with  the  Commit- 
tee of  Management  to  take  up, 
by  means  of  weekly  instalments, 
a number  of  shares  in  propor- 
tion to  their  earnings,  in  addition 
to  the  £2,000  previously  men- 
tioned as  being  invested  by 
them. 

“All  persons  interested  in  the 
movement  for  the  improvement 
of  the  conditions  under  which 
labor  is  now  employed  are  in- 
vited to  become  members  and 
shareholders  of  the  Guild,  and 
thus  be  active  partners  in  the 


110 

work  of  labor  emancipation.” 
(Prospectus.) 

The  management  is  in  the 
hands  of  a committee  of  sixteen, 
consisting  of  the  heads  of  each 
department,  Mr.  Brownfield 
being  general  manager,  thus  ex- 
pensive, disinterested  employees 
and  large  salaries  are  done 
away  with. 


XX. 


CONCLUSION. 

Mr.  Brownfield,  an  opponent 
of  the  unchristian  and  inhuman 
doctrine  of  “buy  in  the  cheapest, 
and  sell  in  the  dearest  market,” 
is  an  advocate  of  the  beautiful 
principles  of  the  political  econo- 
my, which  Mr.  Ruskin  has  de- 
clared in  his  “Twenty-five  Let- 
ters to  A Working  Man,”  and 
he  has  cast  in  his  lot  with  his 
workmen  in  accordance  with 
his  belief. 

It  remains  to  be  seen  if  hia 
fellow-associates  are  able  to  live 
up  to  the  high  principle  which 
should  animate  them.  One  of 


112 


the  members  of  the  Society  said 
to  me : “the  Guild  must  suc- 
ceed,” and  he  added,  “I  would 
lose  my  home  before  I would 
see  it  go  down,  and  I have  a 
wife  and  eight  children.” 

Certainly,  petty  jealousies, 
the  endeavor  to  lower  another 
in  the  confidence  of  his  coadju- 
tors, to  supplant,  and  to  bid  for 
personal  popularity  and  suprem- 
acy are  yet  too  common  among 
our  fallible  fellow-men,  and  such 
an  association  of  four  or  five 
hundred  men  and  women  of  so 
many  minds  calls  for  much  self- 
denial. 

If  this  Guild  can  tide  over 
the  present  time  of  industrial 
disturbances,  it  will  offer  an  op- 


113 


portunity  for  the  development 
of  great  individual  patience,  and 
the  practice  of  that  self-denial 
and  unselfishness  which  con- 
duces to  the  great  moral  growth 
that  moves  the  world,  influences 
the  ages,  and  brings  on  the  mil- 
lennium. 

In  this  organization  men  and 
women  are  in  “due  proportion 
capitalists,  wage-earners,  profit- 
sharers;”  and  each  should  feel 
that  “degree  of  conscientious- 
ness which  will  not  permit  a 
piece  of  work  to  leave  his  hands 
until  he  can  no  further  improve 
it,”  and  that  “all  political  econo- 
my as  well  as  all  higher  virtue 
depends  first  on  sound  work.” 

I would  that  these  verses,  writ- 


114 

ten  almost  three  hundred  years 
ago  : 

“Teach  me,  my  God  and  King, 

In  all  things  Thee  to  see, 

And  what  I do  in  anything. 

To  do  it  as  for  Thee : 

******* 

All  may  of  Thee  partake  : 

Nothing  can  be  so  mean, 

Which  with  this  tincture  (for  Thy  sake) 
Will  not  grow  bright  and  clean. 

A servant  with  this  clause 
Makes  drudgery  divine : 

Who  sweeps  a room,  as  for  Thy  laws. 
Makes  that  and  th’  action  fine. 

This  is  the  famous  stone 
That  turneth  all  to  gold  : 

For  that  which  God  doth  touch  and  own 
Cannot  for  less  be  told/’ 

I would  that  these  should  be 
printed  in  letters  of  gold  on  the 
walls  of  every  school-room  and 

J 


115 


workshop  in  the  land  together 
with  this  other  from  a very  old 
book : “Be  kindly  affectioned 
one  to  another  with  brotherly 
love;  in  honor  preferring  one 
another.” 

Sound  work  and  brotherly 
love!  We  need  no  other  sol- 
vents for  the  labor  question. 


“Behind  us  in  our  path  we  cast 
The  broken  potsherds  of  the  past, 
And  all  are  ground  to  dust  at  last, 
And  trodden  into  clay !” 


APPENDIX 


APPENDIX. 

A. 

In  the  foregoing  pages  I 
have  sketched  the  founding,  in 
1893,  of  the  only  Society  in 
England  manufacturing  crock- 
ery under  the  Industrial  Acts  of 
1876. 

It  would  seem  as  if  “there 
could  not  have  been  a more  un- 
fortunate time  for  the  Guild- 
Pottery  to  have  been  launched.” 
It  is  the  opinion  of  those  quali- 
fied to  judge  that  1893  was  “the 
very  worst  year  for  trade  ever 
experienced  in  the  Potteries 
the  questions  of  silver  coinage 
and  tariff  reform  almost  stopped 
shipment  to  America ; India 


120 


was  suffering  on  account  of  the 
silver  rupee ; Australia  from 
bank  crashes,  and  the  great  and 
prolonged  coal  strike  in  Eng- 
land depressed  the  home  trade. 

We  learn  from  the  printed 
statement  of  accounts  and  bal- 
ance sheet  of  the  Brownfields 
Guild-Pottery  for  the  twelve 
months  ending  December  30th, 
1893,  vouched  for  by  public  au- 
ditors, that  the  sales,  which  in- 
creased as  the  months  went  on 
and  the  Society  held  together, 
amounted  to  £19,100  3s.  6d. 
(Mr.  Brownfield,  interviewed, 
said  during  his  twenty-three 
years  in  the  business  the  small- 
est yearly  sales  were  £29,000); 
that  the  interest,  £425  Is.  9d., 


121 


was  paid  on  the  preferred  shares 
and  loans,  and  there  was  a “net 
revenue”  of  £149  13s.  5d. 

Properly  speaking  that  sur- 
plus should  have  been  paid  as 
interest  on  the  deferred  shares, 
held  by  Mr.  Brownfield  and  a 
few  workers,  but  it  was  not  suf- 
ficient, and  at  the  first  annual 
meeting  it  was  voted  to  set  it 
apart  as  a nucleus  for  the  next 
year.  The  actual  cash  balance 
was  £34  4s.  5d.  The  remainder 
of  the  gain  being  in  stock,  which 
was  “carefully  valued” at  £7,787 
16s.  4d. 

The  wage-earners  worked  all 
the  year,  at  an  average  of  four 
and  three  fourths  days  a week, 
and  were  paid  £11,334  14s.  2d. 


122 


Owing  to  the  small  trade,  they 
were  obliged  to  live  to  a great 
extent  on  their  savings,  and  con- 
sequently the  amount  of  their 
proposed  investments  was  les- 
sened. They  have  learned  some- 
thing of  the  responsibilities  and 
risks  of  capital.  Before  the 
Guild  started  it  was  necessary 
“to  reduce  materials,  working 
plant,  and  stocks  below  a proper 
working  level,”  which  reduction 
was  partly  made  up  during  the 
year. 

On  December  30, 1893,  many 
shares  remained  unsubscribed 
for.  As  usual,  there  was  a lack 
of  confidence  in  the  new  under- 
taking, and  much  ill-informed 
speculation  as  to  its  ultimate 


123 

success  or  failure.  In  this  con- 
nection it  may  be  interesting  to 
Americans  to  know  that  Judge 
Hughes  of  ‘‘Torn  Brown”  fame 
has  been  from  the  beginning  an 
earnest  and  sympathetic  sup- 
porter of  the  scheme. 

Mr.  Brownfield  is  quoted  in 
the  Staffordshire  Post  of  Feb- 
ruary 24,  1894,  as  saying  in  an 
interview,  “We  are  all  right  so 
long  as  we  can  make  sufficient 
sales  to  keep  the  work-people 
employed  at  wages  that  will  find 
them  a living  and  obtain  such 
ready  payments  from  our  cus- 
tomers for  the  goods  as  will 
enable  us  to  pay  the  wages  and 
satisfy  the  creditors  who  supply 
us  with  our  raw  material.” 


124 


The  Guild-Pottery  Society  re- 
ceived considerable  damage  on 
the  night  of  March  2,  1894, 
when  a fire  occurred  which  de- 
stroyed the  bulk  of  the  china 
working  moulds  and  “almost 
every  piece  of  decorated  crock- 
ery, in  any  and  every  stage,  on 
the  china  works,”  including  the  i 
beautiful  vase,  “The  Earth,” 
concerning  this  the  present  wri- 
ter quotes  from  Mr.  Brownfield’s 
letter  in  a Staffordshire  newspa- 
per, “With  what  the  loss  of  the 
vase  (and  the  other  beautiful 
pieces  which  will,  I fear,  never 
be  replaced)  means  to  me,  I need 
not  trouble  your  readers;  but 
many  of  those  who  saw  it  stand- 
ing boldly  out  in  relief,  with  the 


125 


lurid  flames  licking  it  on  all 
sides,  will  understand  how  a 
man  feels  when  his  mansion  is 
burned  down,  his  family  portraits 
and  the  priceless  heirlooms  of 
centuries  are  destroyed,  whilst 
his  modern  furniture  and  things 
easily  purchasable  with  money, 
are  spared  to  him.  Such  about 
were  my  feelings  on  standing 
amidst  the  ruins  of  everything 
of  which  as  a potter  I was  proud, 
and  of  the  great  work  in  which 
with  proper  ambition  I had 
looked  for  the  name  of  Brown- 
field to  live.” 

“The  actual  loss,  uncovered 
by  insurance,  cannot,  under  any 
circumstances,  exceed  £250.” 

A private  letter,  under  date 


126 


of  June  18,  1894,  reports  grow- 
ing prosperity,  and  declares  that 
“the  Guild  has  come  to  stay.” 


B. 

As  an  instance  of  the  value 
of  an  occasional  American  order, 
I will  mention  that  the  old  firm 
of  William  Brownfield  & Sons 
once  executed  a Vanderbilt  com- 
mission which  engaged  the  atten- 
tion of  thirty  men  for  three 
years. 


C. 

The  name  celadon  was  origi- 
nally given  to  the  soft  color  be- 
tween blue  and  green  on  a very 


127 


old,  and  exceedingly  rare  and 
valuable  Oriental  porcelain  by 
the  caprice  of  the  ladies  of  the 
court  of  Henry  the  Fourth, 
king  of  France  and  of  Navarre. 

It  was  to  this  monarch  that 
Honore  d’Urfe  dedicated  the 
first  volume,  published  in  1610, 
of  his  pastoral  romance,  L’as- 
tree,  whose  hero  bears  the 
name  of  Celadon. 

To-day  it  is  one  of  the  “ stock 
names  for  a lover  in  the  French 
drama,”  and  has  come  to  mean, 
even  in  an  American  dictionary y 
“a  sentimental  lover.” 


. 


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